"Registered Democrats were given a list of 11 Democrats who either have announced they are running for New York City mayor or are seen as a possible mayoral candidate. They were asked if the Democratic primary for mayor were being held today, for whom would they vote. Andrew Cuomo receives 31 percent support; Eric Adams receives 11 percent support; Zohran Mamdani receives 8 percent support; Jumaane Williams receives 7 percent support; Scott Stringer receives 6 percent support; Brad Lander receives 5 percent support; Jessica Ramos and Adrienne Adams each receive 4 percent support; and Zellnor Myrie, Michael Blake, and Whitney Tilson each receive 1 percent support. "

I’m not a New Yorker, but of that entire list I only recognize the names of Cuomo and Adams, and for both their misconduct. So this could be a situation of simple name recognition especially since only 31% said Cuomo.

Also on election day for the Presidency in 2024 we had this news:

“Google searches for Biden’s candidacy surged on Election Day: Though Google has not released the exact number of queries, the trend spiking on Election Day highlights a disconnect for some Americans in the lead-up to the election. Many supporters were left confused, with searches peaking in Pennsylvania’s urban centers and spreading state by state as the day continued.” source

The quote about Biden’s candidacy and at least a portion of the Cuomo answer to me sound simply like low information voters. So I don’t see the poll results showings Cuomo’s lead (again at only 31%) as the electorate forgiving him for his past transgressions, but more likely they don’t even know about them and perhaps just want a known alternative to Adams.